The best Kanban software solution offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes moving cards from one stage to another easier. It allows users to customize column names and task cards according to businesses’ unique workflows and to-dos. It features work-in-progress (WIP) limits, helping managers identify bottlenecks easily and assess the team’s capacity to handle a specific number of assignments.
This article lists the best Kanban software solutions to help you decide which one to get for your business requirements.
- Zoho Projects: Best for budget-conscious teams
- monday.com: Best for automated workflows
- Jira: Best for software development teams
- Businessmap (formerly Kanbanize): Best for workflow analytics
- Wrike: Best for artificial intelligence (AI)
- ClickUp: Best for versatile project views
- Notion: Best for ease of use
Best Kanban Software Compared
Zoho Projects: Best for Budget-conscious Teams
What We Like
- Affordable subscription fees
- Easy team collaboration with built-in chat rooms
- Custom statuses and basic issue reports included in free version
Where It Falls Behind
- Only 30 project templates featured
- Less than 30 third-party integrations
- Storage space limited to 120GB
Zoho Projects Monthly Pricing*
- Free: $0 for up to three users, two projects, basic task and issue reports, prebuilt templates, and 5GB of file storage
- Premium: $5 per user for unlimited projects, 20 project templates, time tracking, budgeting, business hours, and 100GB of file storage
- Enterprise: $10 per user for 30 project templates, custom fields, baseline, critical path, and 120GB of file storage
- Free trial: 10 days
*Pricing is based on monthly billing. Pay only $4 and $9 on the Premium and Enterprise plans, respectively, when you choose the annual billing arrangement.
Zoho Project is the best Kanban software in our evaluation, allowing small businesses to access key project management tools without breaking the bank. Its entry-level plan only costs $5 per user a month, which is considerably more affordable than other providers. Its Kanban tool supports drag-and-drop functionality, enabling users to move tasks effortlessly between columns as team members work on them.
In addition, Zoho Projects allows the reordering of cards within columns, duplicating tasks, and applying bulk updates, such as replacing or adding task owners and unassigning tasks. To further organize the workflow, it lets users view tasks by status, task list, priority, and percentage completion of tasks.
While affordable, Zoho Projects is also one of the best Kanban free software as it features some advanced project management tools without cost. These include project and milestone custom statuses, finish-to-start dependency, and project feeds.
Unfortunately, Zoho Projects’ maximum storage space is only 120GB. Explore other best Kanban chart software tools if your team requires unlimited storage. ClickUp offers this feature in its base-tier package for $10 per user, per month only.
Zoho Projects Features
Monitor issues using Zoho Projects’ Kanban board. (Source: Zoho Projects)
- Feeds: This features a stream of project updates from team members, similar to a social media feed. You may tag team members and add attachments to your posts, and then other users can comment.
- Portfolio dashboard: See all your projects, tasks, and issues in one glance. Determine if the progress of each project aligns with your estimated dates and milestones.
- Project baseline: Establish a baseline for your project to monitor its progress over time. With an insight into your work pace, you’ll make a more realistic forecast of project completion. Similarly, this will help you adjust strategies to ensure you finish within the target completion time.
monday.com: Best for Automated Workflows
What We Liked
- Easy to adopt, thanks to the aesthetically pleasing interface and comprehensive documentation
- monday AI featured in all plans, although still in beta
- Access to 200+ project templates offered in free version
Where It Falls Behind
- Doesn’t offer unlimited workflow automation actions
- Time tracking and dependencies are locked behind higher-tier subscription packages
- Entry-level plan only includes one week of activity log
monday.com Monthly Pricing*
- Free: $0 for two users, up to three boards, whiteboard collaboration, updates section, and 500MB of file storage
- Basic: $12 per user for unlimited boards, docs, and free viewers; custom fields; daily live webinars; and 5GB of file storage
- Standard: $14 per user for timeline, calendar, and map views; four guests billed as one seat; 250 automation and integration actions; and 20GB of file storage
- Pro: $24 per user for 20 portfolios, dependencies, time tracking, 25,000 automation and integration actions, and 100GB of file storage
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for unlimited portfolios, panic mode, work performance insights, 250,000 automation and integration actions, and 1,000GB of file storage
- Free trial: 14 days
*Pricing is based on monthly billing. Save 18% by paying annually. The paid subscription plans require a minimum of three users.
monday.com is the best Kanban chart software solution, facilitating a more efficient way of task management with its intuitive workflow automation tool. When configured correctly, automation removes the manual work of moving cards from one stage to another in the Kanban board. This allows you to focus on the actual work to be done and not be overwhelmed with updating the board for every project development. The platform allows up to 250,000 automation actions.
On top of that, monday.com has the essential Kanban features, including drag-and-drop functionality and centralized communications, which let users share files and feedback. More importantly, you’re able to customize your Kanban board through color coding on columns and image sharing on cards. monday.com offers integrations with over 200 third-party platforms, which make pulling data from your existing tech stack easier.
However, note that the platform requires three users in its paid subscription plans. If you’re a freelancer, the best Kanban board software solution is Notion. It doesn’t have a minimum seat requirement for subscriptions. Moreover, it offers a range of project templates designed for solopreneurs.
monday.com Features
Track the completion of construction projects on monday.com’s Kanban board. (Source: monday.com)
- Updates section: Communicate with team members right within a specific task. @mention users, react to messages with emojis, and hover over the eye icon to see who has viewed the update.
- Whiteboard: Level up your brainstorming sessions by using the digital whiteboard. Add texts, shapes, and images to illustrate ideas.
- Map view: If your project involves monitoring locations closely, use the map view to see the actual places on the map. The platform features map markers, colored according to the board group they belong to.
Jira: Best for Software Development Teams
What We Liked
- Customizable workflows in all plans, including the free version
- Easy tracking of bugs reported by the team
- Robust third-party integrations, working with over 3,000 apps
Where It Falls Behind
- Complex for new project management software users
- Subtask creation can be wonky
- Technical skill required to maximize the platform
Jira Monthly Pricing*
- Free: $0 for up to 10 users, unlimited projects and issues, project templates, backlog view, 100 automation rule runs
- Standard: $8.15 per user for 50,000 users, anonymous access, 1,700 automation rule runs, and 250GB of file storage
- Premium: $16 per user for capacity management, scenario modeling, approvals, 1,000 automation rule runs per user, and unlimited file storage
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for analytics dashboard, product requests, and audit logs—user activity
*Pricing is based on monthly billing for one to 10 users. Pay $850 and $1,600 a year for the Standard and Premium plans, respectively, when you choose the annual billing arrangement.
Jira is the best Kanban app for software development teams and is popular for providing tools that support the agile project management process. It features release management, allowing users to see app versions’ progress status, start and release dates, issues, and potential problems. Sandboxes enable teams to experiment with new features and assess apps’ functionalities without affecting the production environment.
The Scenarios tool helps you weigh how velocity risks affect the project’s progress. Velocity tracking is crucial for software development teams, as it allows them to estimate how much work the agile team can finish in a certain period, thereby measuring the team’s efficiency as the project progresses.
But while Jira is a great tool for software developers, it’s not ideal for nontechnical teams, as the niche features may be overwhelming. The best Kanban board platform for nontech users is Notion, as it essentially operates on content blocks, which are simple to create and configure.
Jira Features
Organize workflows by putting tasks on Jira’s Kanban board. (Source: Jira)
- Version: This represents the team’s output after a specific sprint. The version in a Scrum project is predetermined and launched when the target work is finished. Meanwhile, the version in a Kanban project may be released at any time.
- Customizable workflows: Match the project boards to your actual work process. Customize the “To-do,” “In Progress,” and “Done” column labels to guide team members accordingly.
- Summary view: This displays four overview cards: unassigned, high-priority, overdue, and blocked issues. Under these cards, you’ll see the widgets that provide insight into the project’s progress. The status overview, for instance, shows issues according to their status category, while the issue progress presents how individual high-level tasks advanced in the project pipeline.
Businessmap (Formerly Kanbanize): Best for Workflow Analytics
What We Liked
- Easy to set up, thanks to the user-friendly interface
- Meaningful project forecasting insights
- Generous file storage, 100GB at the entry-level plan
Where It Falls Behind
- No free plan like most project management software providers
- Minimum number of seats required, alienating small teams
- Additional fee for automation rules
Businessmap Monthly Pricing*
- Standard: $179 for 15 users, unlimited Kanban boards and workspaces, customizable workflows, project forecasting, dependency management, and 100GB of file storage
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for unlimited user limits, free migration from other tools, custom contract, and 1TB of file storage
- Free trial: 90 days
*Pricing is based on monthly billing. Pay only $149 for 15 users when you choose the annual billing arrangement.
Businessmap is our top choice for a Kanban board software solution for workflow analytics. It features a wide range of out-of-the-box reports for assessing project performance. Here are some of them:
- Cycle time analytics: This offers insight into the time it took for tasks to be completed. Different charts are available to help you understand data easily: scatter plot chart, histogram, and heat map.
- Throughput analytics: This shows the amount of work delivered during a specific period. Histogram and run charts are available.
- WIP analytics: The aging WIP monitors the age of tasks labeled “in progress.” The WIP run chart represents the amount of WIP the team has for a certain period.
- Flow analytics: The cumulative flow diagram shows every task that’s been added and has progressed through the project phases.
Although Businessmap is an excellent tool for workflow analytics, budget-conscious teams may not like its expensive pricing. The subscription plan requires a minimum of 15 users and costs $179 monthly. Unlike other providers, it doesn’t have a free version either. Zoho Projects is the most affordable Kanban platform, costing only $5 per user a month.
Businessmap Features
Visualize work processes better with Businessmap’s Kanban board. (Source: Businessmap)
- Project milestones: These represent the important events in your project that can be used to assess the initiative’s progress. Recalibrate your strategies as you measure your team’s work pace.
- Limit projects in progress: Determine the maximum number of projects that can be executed at the same time. This prevents burnout among team members and lets you focus on the quality of work for each project.
- Timelines: Visualize your project in a calendar view. This lets you monitor the work that’s supposed to be finished within specific periods and, at the same time, guide you through the next activities for each project phase.
Wrike: Best for Artificial Intelligence
What We Liked
- Native file proofing and approval tool featured
- Access to a wide range of AI tools on the free version
- Robust resource management tools, like the resource view and timesheets
Where It Falls Behind
- Limited file storage, with the entry-level plan offering 2GB per user only
- Extra fee and higher-tier subscription plans required for advanced integrations
- No monthly billing option
Wrike Monthly Pricing
- Free: $0 for unlimited users, task and subtask management, custom work views, generative AI, and 2GB of file storage
- Team: $9.80 per user for up to two to 25 users, calendars, dynamic Gantt charts, dashboards, 50 workflow automation actions per seat, and 2GB of file storage per user
- Business: $24.80 per user for five to 200 users, project portfolio management, AI-recommended tasks, AI project risk prediction, 200 workflow automation actions per seat, and 5GB of file storage per user
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for five to unlimited users, Tableau integration, two-step verification, customizable user types, 1,000 workflow automation actions per seat, and 10GB of file storage per user
- Pinnacle: Custom pricing for advanced analytics and data visualizations, budgeting, resource bookings, advanced proofing in HTML5 and SharePoint, and 1,500 workflow automation actions per seat with 15GB of file storage per user
- Free trial: 14 days
Among the best Kanban board apps listed here, Wrike is the ideal platform for streamlining workflows using AI. It detects action points in message threads and meeting notes and automatically creates tasks and subtasks.
The machine learning technology analyzes historical patterns and frequent issues, alerting you to potential project delays. With this, you’ll be able to come up with strategies for reassigning tasks or redistributing resources on your Kanban board. Through generative AI, Wrike automatically writes out project briefs and plans, enabling teams to get to work right away and not be preoccupied with the preliminary requirements of a project.
But while it has great AI tools, the platform doesn’t have a monthly billing option, making it a less ideal tool for businesses not wanting a long-term commitment. All the other Kanban software solutions listed here offer monthly billing. Zoho Projects offers the most affordable subscription packages, with an entry-level cost of $4 per user monthly.
Wrike Features
Drag and drop task cards on Wrike to reflect project updates. (Source: Wrike)
- Gantt chart: View tasks as they are laid out in a calendar, marked with start and end dates. This helps you know at a glance how long it will take for assignments to be completed and which tasks need to be done before another begins.
- Live document editor: Attach relevant files to tasks and edit them right on Wrike. With this, you don’t need to download the documents and use your computer’s word processor or spreadsheet editor.
- Time tracking: Monitor how much time team members spend on completing to-do’s. Use the time-tracking insights to create accurate invoices and adjust project timelines.
ClickUp: Best for Versatile Project Views
What We Liked
- Generous offerings on the free version
- Wide range of built-in team collaboration tools, such as chat and email
- Goal setting feature that reminds teams of the high-level project objectives
Where It Falls Behind
- Native integrations limited to 50 third-party apps
- AI comes with an additional fee
- Occasional lags on the desktop version
ClickUp Monthly Pricing*
- Free forever: $0 for five spaces, unlimited custom views, 60 uses of Gantt and timeline views, three whiteboards, 50 automation rules, 100 automation executions, and 100MB of file storage
- Unlimited: $10 per user for compatibility with AI, custom fields, 100 uses of map and mind map, 500 automation rules, 1,000 automation executions, and unlimited storage
- Business: $19 per user for custom task IDs, publicly share Everything View, remove email branding, unlimited automation rules, and 10,000 automation executions
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for universal search, white labeling, team sharing, Tableau web connector, 250,000 automation executions, and single sign-on
*Pricing is based on monthly billing. Pay $7 and $12 only for the Unlimited and Business plans, respectively, when you choose the annual billing arrangement.
ClickUp is the best Kanban software solution for those needing flexible project views because it features the “Everything” view, which displays multiple Kanban boards from all of your workspaces. This makes overseeing different campaigns across different teams and departments easier.
Switching from one project view to another is likewise seamless. The platform allows users to add project views in the topmost tab, making the board and other workflow charts easily accessible with only one click. ClickUp offers multiple task view options on top of the Kanban board: timeline, activity, workload, team, map, and mind map.
Additionally, ClickUp is one of the best free online Kanban software solutions since it offers plenty of valuable project management capabilities without a cost, which most providers often lock behind a paywall. These include custom fields, Gantt charts, workload, mind map, and automation rules and executions.
Unfortunately, the platform only integrates with over 50 third-party apps. In contrast, Jira works with 3,000 solutions. This is the best free Kanban software app if you’re an agile team.
ClickUp Features
Group tasks by status on ClickUp’s Kanban board. (Source: ClickUp)
- Video recording: Capture your screen to demonstrate how to navigate platforms or perform certain tasks. Include voice instructions to supplement the screen recording. Once you’re done recording, copy the link generated to share the file with team members.
- Delegate reminders: Creating a new reminder automatically assigns the task to you, but you have the option to designate it to someone else. Simply change the assignee field and choose the user you want to be responsible for the reminder.
- Box view: See an overview of the tasks each team member is working on, including how many are assigned, in progress, and done. The workload chart displays how much work your team needs to complete versus how much they have finished.
Notion: Best for Ease of Use
What We Liked
- Publishable Notion pages
- Advanced page analytics on the entry-level plan
- Effective project organization via Wiki, the collaborative knowledge base tool
Where It Falls Behind
- Additional fee for Notion AI
- No dedicated chat feature
- Only 30 days of page history offered in entry-level plan
Notion Monthly Pricing*
- Free: $0 for unlimited pages for individuals, limited block trial for more than two members, basic page analytics, timeline and board views, basic automations, 10 guest invites, and 5MB file storage
- Plus: $10 per user for unlimited pages and blocks, custom Notion website, custom automations in databases, 100 guest invites, and unlimited file storage
- Business: $18 per user for private teamspaces, advanced page analytics, 250 guest invites, exporting entire workspace as PDF, and single sign-on
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for advanced teamspace permissions, security and compliance integrations, and granular admin roles
*Pricing is based on monthly billing. Pay only $8 and $15 for the Plus and Business plans, respectively, when you choose the annual billing arrangement.
Notion is the easiest-to-use Kanban software solution since it operates like a typical document editor. Creating a board simply involves typing the slash command “/database” and selecting the board view from the drop-down menu. From there, the platform automatically creates a Kanban board with columns labeled “To-do,” “In progress,” and “Complete.” Click the cards to rename them and input details such as assignees and further task instructions.
Similar to other software providers, Notion’s Kanban board supports drag-and-drop functionality. If you want to get started quickly on Kanban, use the platform’s templates. With this, you won’t have to build your board from scratch, and you may start populating the cards with tasks for assignment to team members. One downside of Notion is that its AI tool isn’t included in the subscription plans. You have to pay an extra fee of $10 a month to access it.
In contrast, Wrike has its AI feature in all plans. Its free version even includes the majority of the work intelligence capabilities, namely smart search, smart replies, AI-recommended tasks, and AI subitem creation.
Notion Features
Find ready-made Kanban boards among Notion’s project templates. (Source: Notion)
- Notion AI: This tool automatically generates content: blogs, social media posts, press releases, and even creative stories. Simply type the command in the AI bar to enable this feature.
- Page history: See previous versions of the page you’re working on. Note that each subscription plan has its own page history limits, except for the highest tier. The free version is up to seven days, while the entry-level plan is up to 30 days. The second-tier package has a 90-day history.
- Wiki: Build a comprehensive knowledge base for your project with links to different resources, such as the project charter, business case, contacts directory, and scope statement. With this, team members only have to look at one page for all the things they need to know about the project.
How We Evaluated the Best Kanban Software
To come up with the best Kanban solutions, we developed a scoring system that evaluates the providers’ value for money, task management capabilities, usability, and customer assistance. Our assessment also includes our expert evaluation of the platform’s standout features and popularity.
Learn how we evaluated the best Kanban board software by clicking on the tabs below:
30% of Overall Score
To assess affordability, we compared the base-level and second-tier subscription plans to the average price of project management software solutions on the market. We gave higher points to providers with free plans and discounts for annual billing and volume users.
20% of Overall Score
Since it’s a Kanban software solution, we checked if the provider offers excellent, easy-to-configure Kanban views. Other essential project management capabilities we checked were tools for project planning and scheduling, task management, and calendar sync. The reporting dashboard was part of our evaluation as well, as small businesses need it for better performance tracking.
% of Overall Score
15% of Overall Score
The niche capabilities included in our assessment were Kanban swimlanes, drag-and-drop functionality, and WIP limits. We gave higher points to providers with built-in time tracking and robust automations.
10% of Overall Score
We determined if users needed technical expertise to set up and operate the software solution. We assigned more points to providers with an intuitive interface and resources to get started with the platform.
10% of Overall Score
Since businesses need timely assistance for software concerns and issues, we checked the customer support teams’ operational hours, giving more points to those with a 24/7 schedule. We considered the variety of direct communication channels the providers offer: phone, email, and live chat.
15% of Overall Score
*Percentages of overall score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, Microsoft Teams allows users to create a Kanban board through the Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) integration. Follow these steps to enable this function:
- Add the VSTS dashboard to your Teams tab.
- Fill out the Team Project, Team, and Backlog Level fields.
- Tick off the box that says “Post to the channel about this tab” to inform team members about your Kanban board.
Yes, you can create Kanban boards on Google Workspace by integrating it with the software solution Kanbanchi Task and Project Management. Kanbanchi features Kanban boards and other project management tools like the Gantt chart and time tracking.
Yes, companies still use Kanban because it offers the following benefits:
- Easy monitoring of tasks: The Kanban board provides an excellent overview of the progress of to-dos. In one glance, you’ll see which ones are assigned, in progress, and finished. With this, managers are able to make a forecast of when the project will be completed and make adjustments to strategies if necessary.
- Increased accountability: Since Kanban boards provide visibility on progress, team members will be more intentional about moving tasks along the pipeline. Managers, on the other hand, are able to quickly identify bottlenecks and ask concerned parties for updates.
- Better collaboration: Remote teams especially benefit from an online Kanban board because it provides a virtual workspace that can be accessed anywhere. Users won’t have to constantly provide email or chat updates about the progress of work because the board readily displays statuses.
Bottom Line
A Kanban board software solution helps businesses manage projects more efficiently, as it readily displays the list of tasks and their respective progress through the workflow. Monitoring assignments, identifying backlogs, and following up on team members become easier with a visual tool like Kanban.
Among the platforms we reviewed, Zoho Projects is the best overall, making basic Kanban tools highly accessible to budget-conscious teams. For only $5 per user a month, you’ll be able to create as many projects as you want, access project feeds, set milestones and task dependencies, and glean insights from advanced task reports. Sign up for its 10-day free trial to learn if it suits your business requirements.
